Schools

Water stations along Kelly Drive were closed following the Phila. Marathon for winterization and will reopen in spring 2018. Credit: Laura Copeland and Frank Gaffney, Philadelphia Water Department.

Following the 2017 Philadelphia Marathon, Philadelphia Water Department crews shut down and winterized all four Schuylkill River Trail water stations located between the Falls Bridge and Fairmount Water Works. The much-used features—offering fountains, bottle filling stations and ground-level bowls for dog walkers—are taken offline each winter to guard against freezing temperatures that can cause burst plumbing.

When spring temperatures allow, Water crews will perform maintenance, flushing and testing before restoring service to the stations.

First introduced in 2016, the stations provided trail users with more than 21,000 gallons of drinking water between late April and mid-November during the 2017 season. In terms of the volume of plastic, single-use bottles kept out of the waste stream, the stations distributed enough water to fill roughly 159,100 half-liter disposable bottles.

In addition to providing free access to top-quality drinking water for daily trail users, the water stations reduced waste and litter generated by marquee events held along Philadelphia’s scenic Schuylkill River waterfront.

The Philadelphia Water Department is working with partners in the Office of Sustainability, Parks and Recreation, the School District, Public Health and other City departments to expand access to drinking water and promote Philadelphia’s top-quality water as an essential part of a healthy lifestyle.

Your Pipes Can Freeze Too!Note: Homeowners should be winterizing their plumbing, too. From shutting off outdoor hose connections to insulating basement windows near the water meter, there are number of things homeowners can do to prevent extreme cold from causing damage that a can lead to frozen pipes, flooded basements, and costly repairs. You can check out some cold-weather tips here and in the video below.

The Philadelphia skyline frames a stormwater-fighting green roof on the Free Library of Philadelphia. Our city is leading the way on green infrastructure. Credit: Philadelphia Water.

We couldn't help but notice all the buzz down in Washington this week as they made the case for green to residents and unveiled revised stormwater plans relying heavily on green infrastructure. We congratulate DC Water on a big step in the right the right direction! Their debut also reminded us of our Green City, Clean Watersrollout way back in 2011, and got us thinking about the "why" behind green infrastructure.

So, why Green City, Clean Waters?

After almost five years of putting green infrastructure into neighborhoods, the answer to that question is clearer than ever. In a nod to the DC Water plan, here are four reasons Green City, Clean Waters is better than just sticking with the old way of doing water infrastructure:

Now. Unlike a massive underground tunnel system that would tear up neighborhoods for years, our green infrastructure is already providing water quality benefits. Green City, Clean Waters improvements allow Philadelphia to enjoy better water quality and environmental and social benefits right now.

Fairer. While other cities scramble for funds and end up saddling ratepayers with the burden of financing massive and outdated gray infrastructure projects, our 25-year Green City, Clean Waters plan is a cost-saving program that lets Philadelphia Water minimize rate increases and keep water affordable for all.

Jobs.Green City, Clean Waters is fueling a green jobs economy in Philadelphia, creating high-value new jobs for residents and attracting smart workers and firms to our city. An ambitious and forward-thinking green infrastructure plan needs an ambitious and forward-thinking workforce to succeed, and we’re making that happen here right now.

Dozens of budding artists from schools all over the city came out to the Fairmount Water Works to claim their prizes after taking top spots in our Green City, Clean Waters 2015 Art Contest, hosted by Philadelphia Water and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE).

Looking at the truly impressive quality of their work, it’s clear that Philadelphia Water is also a big winner this year. Thanks to the more than 1,300 students who took time to create posters and videos reflecting our “Only Rain Down the Storm Drain” theme, we now have tons of incredible art to help spread the word about protecting our watersheds.

“It was really tough for us to pick winners this year because there were just so many amazing submissions to pick from,” Tiffany Ledesma, a judge for K-2nd grade entries and member of the Green City, Clean Waters public engagement team, told students and families at the April 28 ceremony.

Winning students and their teachers from Germantown Friends School, Maritime Academy Charter School, C.C.A Baldi Middle School, St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, Archbishop Ryan High School, Philadelphia Center for Arts and Technology (PCAT) at Foundations, Inc. and Aspira, Inc. of Pennsylvania took home gift cards, a variety of art supplies for their schools, framed certificates, and a contest calendar featuring their artwork.

Save the Date: Join us on Monday, May 4 for a very special presentation and discussion.

Mayor Nutter and Dr. Hite join George W. Nebinger students in a ribbon cutting for their green schoolyard on Earth Day 2015.

After years of bringing the benefits of green stormwater features to dozens of Philly schools through our Green City, Clean Waters plan, we’re ready to share what we’ve learned with communities here and around the country. The result? Transforming Philadelphia’s Schoolyards, a colorful, 44-page design guide to greening schoolyards made with the help of the Community Design Collaborative and their ace team of volunteers.

The pioneering toolkit on schoolyard transformation will be presented on Monday, May 4, 2015 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Center for Architecture, 1216 Arch Street. The event will include a panel discussion featuring the leaders of three successful schoolyard makeovers, a green schoolyards resource fair, and opening remarks by Philadelphia School District Superintendent, William R. Hite. Jr. and PWD's Commissioner, Howard Neukrug. And, yes, you ARE invited!

We made this guide because there’s an ever-growing groundswell of communities seeking to reinvent Philadelphia’s mostly asphalt schoolyards as neighborhood spaces that foster learning, connection to nature and community. Transforming Philadelphia’s Schoolyards presents ideas, advice and stories drawn from PWD and the Collaborative’s work to design green schoolyards and manage stormwater—providing on-the-ground experience, case studies and guidance for motivated schools and communities across the city and country to do the same.

Through the Green City, Clean Waters plan, PWD is reimagining stormwater management citywide and sees schoolyards as ideal sites for green infrastructure. When PWD began working with the School District of Philadelphia, it recognized a need for a holistic approach to reinventing the schoolyard, and teamed up with the Collaborative, a non-profit providing preliminary architectural, landscape architectural, and engineering designs that incorporate the voices of schools, neighbors and communities. Having been with us since Green City, Clean Waters started nearly five years ago, the Collaborative's experience made them the perfect partner for this guide.

Advocates for green schoolyards (including teachers, administrators, students, families, communities, designers, public agencies, and others) will gain inspiration and receive a complimentary copy of the design guide at the event.

You can RSVP for the event here. If you’re interested in making your community’s school a greener, brighter place, we hope to see you there!